


Never Trust a Shem Boy

by Luckynumber13



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: (or chapter whenever), AU where Alistair is a prince claimed by King Maric, AU with no blight, F/M, but she wont discover that its him till chapter threeeeeee, failed step one, heres where she meets prince charming, step one: dont fall in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2018-09-10 00:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8918881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luckynumber13/pseuds/Luckynumber13
Summary: Growing up in Denerim's alienage, Kallian Tabris learned a good number of lessons to keep herself alive, but there was only one lesson she learned that might keep her heart safe."Never trust a Shem boy."Kallian was normally a good student, except when it came to that.





	1. Trouble in the Marketplace

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most self-indulgent thing I've done, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. Also, I've been on this site for years, but I've finally posted a story! Honestly, I should be working on my original stuff, but I missed writing fanfic! Hopefully, I'll update fairly regularly, but don't hold me to that.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get some background, an altercation, and a chance meeting.

There are things that Kallian learned while growing up in Denerim’s alienage. There was the lesson of how to make money last. There was the lesson of how to make a loaf of bread last as long as possible. There was the lesson of how to avoid drunken guards at night who felt the need to arrest every knife-ear that was out after dark.

And then there was the lesson that she learned with Shianni. It was a slow lesson to learn, and it hurt her every time she had to be reminded of what she still could not commit to memory.

One night, when everyone else was asleep, she sobbed quietly to herself. That was when Shianni came over and sat on the edge of her bed. She reached over and smoothed Kallian’s wild red hair. “Never trust a Shem boy,” she advised in a soft voice. “They will draw you in with their pretty eyes and rosy lips and honeyed words, but they cannot be trusted. They will never see us as anything else. It is best to just leave them be. Ignore them as they would ignore us on any normal day. They don’t deserve your attention, and they don’t deserve your tears.”

Sometimes, her cousin was frivolous and flighty, but it was nights like this that made her sound wise. When Kallian needed her, she was always there. And after those days when it seemed that, in this particular lesson, she was a slow study, she was always there at the edge of her to remind her.

“Never trust a Shem boy.”

***

At nineteen years old, Kallian knew that she had to find a job in order to provide for her family. Food at the shop in the alienage was cheaper than in town, but that also meant it wasn’t very good quality and it sold out fast. Her cousins often found odd jobs they could do. Repairs and such. She wasn’t that handy. Her father grew some flowers in the small patch of dirt outside of their house. Sometimes she sewed a few things that could pass for dolls or napkins. These, she took to the market to sell.  
,

It wasn’t exactly a venture that made much money. If she wasn’t afraid of getting arrested, she would at join the fights that happened at night in different locations. Fighting was one of the only things that she was good at, butut it was best to keep out of trouble. More often than not, those fights were raided by guards who were not easy to get away from with the chaos of the crowd. A friend learned this lesson the hard way, once, and since then, the thought of fighting was driven from her mind.  
,

And then there was The Pearl. Kallian had never been desperate enough to take up the offers of the girls who told her it was easy money. The life was alright for some. She heard the madam of the establishment took good care of her girls, but they also didn’t have families. She did. And she’d rather not prove the Shems who spat the words “knife-eared whore” right. So every day, she brought her basket full of flowers and small sewn objects in hopes of turning a coin.

It was hard going, seeing as everyone in the marketplace was more enamored with silks and fragrances from Orlais or “FINE DWARVEN CRAFTS! DIRECT FROM ORZAMMAR!” It was hard to have her voice heard over the din, and people didn’t want to buy what she sold. Most days, she simply took the basket to the chantry. The sisters took pity on her, even though she was an elf, and gave her a few copper pieces. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to buy food for the next few days. On this particular day, that was exactly what she did.

The weather was too nice to just sit on the dirty ground with a basket in the hopes of someone just passing by and taking enough pity on her that they buy something. Tucking the small purse of coppers away, she simply decided to travel the streets of Denerim.

Laughter emanated from the windows of the tavern which caused Kallian to wonder why anyone would choose to stay inside on such a beautiful day as this.

Normally, it was a bad idea to walk by the gate that closed off the entrance to Denerim castle, since the guards liked to eye her more suspiciously than others who passed by, but it was too nice a day to care.

The alabaster stone glittered in the sunlight, and she found herself, not for the first time, wondering what it would be like to live behind those walls. What would it be like to have people waiting on her every whim? She could have hot baths drawn whenever she wanted and just sit in them for hours on end. When she was little, she and Shianni would pretend that they were princesses on the way to the castle. They talked about everything they would do once they got there. Eventually, her father would come into their room and tell them to go to sleep. She always ended up dreaming of all the luxuries she knew she would never have.

Lost in thought, she didn’t look where she was walking, which turned out to be a big mistake.

She didn’t realize what was happening until it already happened, but suddenly she was on the ground and staring up at a human man. The slight ringing in her head that was caused by her sudden trip kept her from hearing that he was calling for the guards until it was too late for her to run.

A couple of Templars were suddenly behind her and roughly picked her off the ground. One of them held her in place while the other asked the man what happened.  
“Ser, I was just minding my own business when this,” he hissed out the word as he pointed at Kallian, but it looked like he was looking for the correct word to use while still looking dignified, “this elf pummeled headlong into me with the intent of picking my pocket!”

“What?” Kallian yelled. “You dirty lying Shem!” She wanted to charge at him in earnest now that he accused of her of doing so before, but then she noticed the small coin purse she got from the chantry sisters lying on the ground between them.  
The man picked it up from the ground and presented it to the Templar as evidence.

Her eyes went wide and her tone picked up a more pleading note. “I swear that is mine, Ser!” she tried not to yell. “Charity from the chantry sisters. My family doesn’t have much. It’s only a few coppers!”  
“Please,” the man sneered. “Why would the chantry sisters give charity to you?” The implication was clear. She was an elf, so to him she deserved nothing. “Ser, the only reason there isn’t much in that purse is so would-be thieves like her would not get a much as they wished. My real purse is hidden much better.”

Tears began to prick Kallian’s eyes as she saw the Templar nod at the man’s story. “He’s lying!” She was shouting now, struggling to get out of the grip of the one holding her, but he was much larger than she. “Ser! I swear that is mine! I swear!”  
“Quiet, girl!” The Templar behind her shouted, not caring how close he was to her ear.

“I hope there isn’t a problem, here,” came a calm voice from behind the group. The Templar who held her released his grip almost immediately and knelt down in front of this new man. Kallian barely had enough time to glance at him before she was pulled to her knees by the kneeling man who previously held her. Looking to her sides, the others were kneeling as well, and she didn’t even know who was there!

“My lord, we caught this elven girl trying to steal the money off this man,” the other Templar explained, offering up the small coin purse for the newcomer – the noble – to inspect.

“There’s nothing more than a few coppers in here,” the nobleman commented, counting out the coins before putting them back in the purse. “Are you sure this is his? Looks like alms from the chantry to me.”

“That’s what the girl claimed – “started the Templar next to her.

“And I’m sure you were about return it to her, were you not?”

Kallian wasn’t sure she could believe what she heard. This man had no reason to advocate for her! From the way everyone reacted, he was very important, and he wanted her money returned! She could have cried from happiness if she wasn’t still so unsure about what was happening.

“I… yes, my lord,” the Templar answered. He held out his hand to receive the coin purse and then hand it back to her. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“You can go,” the man said. Looking around, she saw the others began to stand, so she did so as well.

With her eyes still staring at the ground she mumbled a quick, “Thank you,” before turning to leave.

“Not you,” the mysterious nobleman said. His voice was softer now than when he was dealing with the guards. “I am sorry that you had to deal with that. I know that people in this city do not exactly treat elves fairly. I know that this can’t heal those wounds, but…” He paused, and she heard the jingling of metal. “Here.” He took her hand a pressed a few coins into her palm. She gasped as she saw the glint of gold.

“My lord,” she addressed him in the way the guards did. “I cannot accept this.”

“Of course, you can!” He laughed. “It’s a gift. And you can look at me, you know. I promise I don’t bite.”

She knew it was a mistake to do so almost immediately when she saw his face. His short-cropped hair was a dark blonde, and his eyes were the color of amber. He gave her a crooked smile and her heart leaped.

“At the very least, I should be allowed to know the name of my savior,” she commented as she put the coins away. She still didn’t know why he gave her so much money, but his face made it hard for her to distrust him.

He looked a bit confused when she asked his name. He was a noble, so perhaps he believed that most people he encountered would know who he was, but no one in the alienage was very concerned with the identity of nobles.

“Call me Al,” he said, smiling even wider now. He held out his hand. “And you are?”

“Kallian,” she answered, giving him her hand. She expected a handshake before the two of them parted ways forever.

Instead, he brought her hand to his lips before saying, “It was a pleasure to meet you, my lady.” The heat in Kallian’s cheeks told her that they were likely bright red.

Shianni’s voice echoed in her head as she looked at him.

“Never trust a Shem boy.”

This was a lesson she wasn’t very good at learning.


	2. At home

Word travels fast in the Alienage. By the time she got home, Shianni was ready to pounce on her for information.

“What happened in the marketplace?” She basically screamed into Kallian’s face. “We heard there was a problem! That you were nearly arrested! You had me worried sick!”

“Calm down,” she said, pushing past her cousin. “You don’t see me shouting at you like that when you stay out all night drinking.”

“That’s because I don’t get held down by guards!” Shianni shot back. “Just tell me what happened. Your dad was pacing the floor since we got the news, you know. We thought you wouldn’t come home and you’d be rotting in some dungeon by now! Or worse!”

Kallian looked over to her father. Though the two of them were close, he never said much, most of the time. The fact that his eyes were red and the lines on his face seemed deeper spoke volumes, though.

“I’m sorry that I worried you,” she apologized. “I was just walking around town for a bit, and I didn’t look where I was going. All of the sudden, I ran into someone who started calling for the guards. He said I tried to pickpocket him.”

Shianni spit on the ground. “Shems.”

“He tried to use the money I had gotten from the Chantry and dropped on the ground as proof.”

At those words, her father’s face fell from his usual neutral expression to one of disappointment and frustration, though it wasn’t aimed at her. “You went to the Chantry again today.” He sighed. It wasn’t a question. “I knew the flowers wouldn’t sell for much, but I had hoped there was something we could do to be self-sufficient.”

“It’s not your fault, Father,” Kallian tried to calm him. “I’m not ashamed of taking charity every once in a while. I was just afraid that I was going to lose it to a man who thought it wouldn’t matter if he took it when I went to jail.”

“So what happened?” Shianni pressed. “I mean, you’re _not_ in jail, which means that something happened. How did you convince the guards to let you go?”

“I didn’t,” she admitted. “Some noble came by. I don’t really know who he was, but he must have been at least an Arl, if not a Teyrn, for those guards to kneel in front of him. He told them to let me go and give me back my money. That was it.”

Her cousin raised an eyebrow. “That’s _it_?” She asked. “He didn’t ask you to do… _anything_? He just came in and rescued you, an elf, from some low life? I don’t trust it.”

“Well, that’s what happened,” she replied. “And then we just parted ways.” She neglected to mention the part where he kissed her hand. Even the memory made her heart race just a little bit, but she knew how Shianni would react to that.

“Even so, you should probably watch your back,” she suggested. “If I know Shems, they always want something in return sooner or later. And it’s never something good.”

“Well, he also did this,” Kallian added, taking out the bag and emptying it into her hand. The few gold pieces shone brightly, even in the dim light of the hovel.

“And you _really_ didn’t do anything for him?” Shianni inquired, but she was only staring at the gold now. “I’m telling you, he’s going to want something in return, so make sure you stay away from him, but either way, this is going to do a lot of good.” She reached out to take one of them but Kallian pulled her hand away.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” She said, her tone holding a warning. “I saw that look in your eye. This money is for food and maybe some new clothes. The rest is going to be used for fixing the leaky ceiling and then saved for when we need it. That means no Antivan brandy.”

Shianni pouted. “You’re no fun.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if I’m fun or not. It’s my money, and I get to decide what we do with it. I decided that we’re going to make sure it lasts as long as possible, which means that you’re just going to have to try and buy expensive booze another way.”

Her cousin rolled her eyes, but instead of saying anything, she simply stepped forward and drew Kallian into a tight hug. “I know I’m making jokes, but I was really afraid that something might have happened to you today. I don’t know what I would have done if you were taken away. And even if I turn out to be right and that noble tries to collect on something you didn’t promise to, just know I’m not going to be smug. I’m going to fight for you as much as I know that you would fight for me.”

The words cut her a little bit. Kallian wanted to believe the man she met in the market, Al, was different, but there was no reason for her to truly believe that. So many nights that had Shianni sitting on the edge of her bed trying to comfort her started with charming human boys who looked like they were going to treat her differently than others normally did. Every time, she said she would be able to see the warning signs, and she was never able find any similarities. They were all nice and charming until they suddenly weren’t. The change was always unexpected and immediate. The moment she refused to do something they wanted, their beautiful eyes became cold and hard. That was the part when they started being similar.

But whether Al was different or not didn’t matter much if she never saw him again. What did he know about her besides her name and the fact that she was an elf from the alienage? She was pretty sure she had never seen him around town. She would have remembered those warm, honey eyes and that beautiful smile. No, it did not matter if she thought of him like that and remembered her interaction with him fondly because she would never see him again.

“Well, even if we are saving the money, I think I’ll get something nice from the store tonight,” her father said, breaking Kallian out of the reverie she hadn’t known she had fallen into. How long was she just standing there remembering how Al called her “my lady” and kissed her hand? It must not have been a long time, or else someone would have said something about it to her.

Still, she was embarrassed that another human boy caught her eye.

No, he wasn’t a boy. This was a man, and he was compassionate and helpful and kind.

And she was completely smitten with the idea of him.

Perhaps it was a good thing that she would never see him again, she thought. After all, maybe today was an anomaly. She caught him on a day when he was feeling kind and generous and took pity on the poor girl who was being thrown around by a couple Templars who believed they were the law and could do whatever they wanted. It could have been a fluke. If she saw him again, it would be on a normal day for him. It would be a day when he felt less charitable and kind and less likely to look her way. No, it was better that she had this one beautiful memory of him with nothing to spoil it.

The dinner they ate that night was better than anything she had recently. There was a small amount of good meat for sale at the shop their friend ran. Kallian was able to make it into a stew that was enough for everyone. It might not have had many spices or much flavor at all, but the meat made up for all of that. Because of that, she was able to go to her room for the night sated and content. She wasn’t sure when the last time she felt this way was, but it was more than pleasant. She was likely going to fall asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow.

Or so she thought.

When night fell and it was time to go to bed, she and Shianni dressed in relative silence before lying down on their respective beds. Kallian was about to fall asleep when her cousin woke up.

“I saw your eyes.”

“What?”

“I saw your eyes when you talked about that Shem who saved you,” Shianni elaborated. “The way you described what happened. I expected you to leave out some details because it was a terrible experience, but the way you talked about that nobleman made your eyes look different.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kallian denied as she turned over and faced the wall instead of her cousin who always seemed to know more about her than she did.

“You do, though,” the other still whispered. “I might not have been in the market with you, but I can imagine the way he looked. You always fall for the same type. They’re always handsome and charming and have beautiful smiles and brighter eyes. And you think that just because he took pity on you today, it means he’s going to be different from all the others.”

She said nothing. Instead, Kallian focused on making her breathing sound heavier and more even. Perhaps Shianni would think that she had already fallen asleep and that it was no use talking to someone who was unconscious. She was, of course, wrong. Her cousin never seemed to care if the person she spoke to was really listening or not, anway.

“It’s always a bad idea, Kallian,” she continued. “I don’t want to see you get hurt again. It’s hard to watch. You’re the strongest person I know, and it isn’t fair that you let some _Shem_ bring you down so low that I have to be the one to comfort you. They aren’t worth your tears, and yet you cry over them every single time. I know the stories we read as little girls always had lessons about following your heart and how everything would turn out fine, but those were always human girls in those stories. You never hear about a human and an elf getting a ‘happily ever after,’ like the people in those stories. It doesn’t happen. Eventually, he human gets fed up with the stigma and takes the child because half-elf, half-human children look enough like humans that people won’t question it. And then we’re left in the dirt again. That’s not the life I want for you.”

It was hard to listen to Shianni like this, but it was hard not to hear her words and taken them to heart. She knew that what her cousin said was true, but she didn’t want to believe it. At least, in her dreams, she could live her fantasies, if only for a moment. Everything was possible when one’s mind was in the Fade.


	3. In the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took longer than I meant. Here's an extra-long chapter. This fic is heavily influenced by a certain movie. If you guess what that is, you win a prize!

Children in the alienage were getting sick. It wasn’t anything serious. Around this time of year, people always got sick, but the orphans were always the worst hit. They either got medicine, or it would get worse. That’s how it always was. And every year, there wasn’t enough medicine to go around. Very few people wanted to go into the woods around the city to gather herbs. There were animals, bandits, and every now and then, there were rumors of a darkspawn sighting.

Kallian was one of the only people to volunteer every year. She could defend herself well enough, since she was allowed to bring her sword, and it meant that it was a day she didn’t have to spend in the marketplace with the pitying looks of Shems.

The woods outside the city were dim, even though she saw the sun high in the sky before she entered the woods with no clouds even visible on the horizon.

She was always good when it came to collecting medicinal herbs, even if she was not very knowledgeable when it came to creating poultices and potions. It was nice to have this time to herself away from the loud voices hawking their goods in the market or the cramped alienage where there was no place someone could have to themselves.

When she was in the forest, she had time to think. Many times, when she did this, she thought about lovely things like traveling, and going on adventures, and seeing places that she would never get to see if she stayed in the alienage. She often thought about leaving home to see the world for just a little while.

Today, though, she only thought about AL

It had been a bit over a week since the altercation in the marketplace, and she hadn’t seen him since. It made sense. Perhaps he was just visiting for the day, and it was her good luck that he noticed her plight, but there was that nagging feeling in the back of her head that Shianni was right. Maybe seeing him again was a bad idea.

But there was another part of her that truly wanted to see him again. If she did, maybe she could get the reason he helped her out.

Kallian cursed at herself out loud as she gathered the herbs. Why was she obsessing over this? Over him? He was a human, and a noble at that. If he came calling for her again, it wouldn’t be for anything good. There would likely be a high price to pay just so she could see his beautiful eyes and hear his voice again.

It was this trap that she found herself in all the time. It was only a week, but she hoped this feeling would go away. The feelings she had for the others went away, in time. Usually, that was after they inevitably broke her heart.

The boys she knew before were never nobles, though. She saw them nearly every single day after they first met, and continued to do so before everything stopped being so nice.

She shook her head again, as if she could physically wrest the thoughts from her mind. She had to focus. Her bag was barely full, and she was planning to have enough to last them for a good few months. It was already fall, and she doubted that they were going to be able to find many herbs and plants in the dead of winter, when they needed them most.

It was a good few hours of collecting plants before she realized her mind had drifted elsewhere. She wasn’t sure she was thinking at all before she looked up at the sounds of horses and voices. Immediately, she moved to hide behind some more brush. She hadn’t been doing anything illegal, but horses meant nobles, and nobles meant guards, normally. Being outside the city gates collecting herbs wasn’t illegal, but being an elf meant that they’d find a way.

The moment she moved, the sound of horses stopped, and she froze.

“Did you hear something?” came a voice. His accent marked him as upper class. He sounded nothing like even the lower nobles who frequented the markets. She tried to step back quietly. The richer people were, the more likely they were to be startled by a random elf in the woods, and she’d be picked up by guards before she knew it. It had happened to more than a few people she knew. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as quiet as she wanted to be. “There it is again.”

Whoever he was with, his guard, likely, finally spoke. “I’ll go check it out,” he said. “Go on ahead. It’s probably just a rabbit, or something. I’ll be right behind you, I’m sure.” The voice was familiar but she couldn’t place it, and she didn’t want to stand around to figure out who it was.

The sound of a horse trotting off was her cue to start running. It would mask the sound enough so she would be able to get off, or so she thought.

She didn’t think of the fact that perhaps the man who stayed behind wouldn’t try to sneak up. She didn’t consider the idea of a horse at nearly full gallop following her.

“Stop!” shouted the voice behind her, but she didn’t. Or, at least, she tried not to.

Kallian’s attention was split between running and making sure her basket didn’t spill over. She trusted her feet enough to keep her running. She didn’t think about large roots tripping her up, which, of course, is exactly what happened.

There was the unmistakable sound of someone trying to bring a horse to a quick stop, a large stomp and then footsteps.

“’Draste!” came the voice. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” He came closer, and suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She tried to get up but stumbled again, but this time, his hand on her shoulder became a grip on her upper arm. “Easy, easy,” he said in a soft voice that she was starting to recognize. “I didn’t mean to run you down. If I had known the sounds came from a person, I wouldn’t have done that. I am so sorry.”

She turned around as fast as she could, hardly sure if she could trust her mind to tell her who this was, but the moment she saw him, her mouth fell open. So did his.

“Kallian?” he asked, looking surprised. She almost couldn’t believe that he remembered her name, or even connected it to her face, which felt like it was slowly growing a bruise.

“Uh, yeah,” she nodded, looking down, and she wasn’t sure what to say in this situation. Mostly, she just wanted to look at him. His face was just as kind as she thought it looked before.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked. “I mean, it’s not a bad thing that you’re out here, but it’s just weird that we ran into each other outside the city. I mean, what are the chances?”

Kallian moved a bit, noticing that his hand was still on her forearm, though his touch was lighter now. She turned her head to notice that he basket had flown in front of her has she fell, leaving a trail of elfroot leading up to it and sighed before getting up and gathering them again.

“What’s this for?” Al asked, picking up a stem.

“It’s medicine,” she answered, taking it from him rather brusquely. She hoped that perhaps if she kept a cold attitude, he would eventually leave her alone. “We need to replenish our stores, and I was the only one who volunteered. They’re all shaky, really.”

“I don’t blame them,” he said, nodding. “I’ll help, if you want.”

“Didn’t you tell that noble you were with that you would be right behind him?” she asked, not wanting to spend more time with him than she had to. “I wouldn’t keep him waiting. He sounded important.”

Al gave a wry laugh. “You wouldn’t know the half of it,” he said. “But he probably got back fine. He doesn’t need me there. Probably glad I turned away. He’s been trying to shake me all day.”

He was a guard, then. She’d heard of nobles complaining about guards being like babysitters. She could imagine Al in that position. He was tall and strong. Perhaps he sounded like a noble because he grew up around them. That thought calmed her. The two of them gathered up the contents of her basket until it was full again.

“Thanks,” she said, finally smiling at him. How could she not?

“It was my pleasure,” he responded with a smile that made her knees weak. “I was actually hoping that would see you again.” That made her look to the ground again. “After our… meeting in the marketplace, I thought perhaps we would run into each other again. I’ve never heard anyone be that forceful around people, especially nobles. I mean, that man could have had you thrown in jail!”

“He nearly did,” Kallian said, flatly, noting that his tone was almost reverent. Like he respected her. “If you hadn’t come along, I don’t know where I would be right now. And I thank you for the gold. It has been a big help to my family.” She stared at the ground. She had stared at his eyes enough and knew that she was falling hard. Perhaps if she avoided them, she could avoid it all together. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to repay you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he replied, slightly surprising her. Even the nicest of the men she knew still wanted something in return for that.

“It was quite a bit of money,” she began to rebut.

“Look,” he stopped her. “Maybe we can just stay and talk for a while?

Now, she looked at him again. The men she thought were “different” never wanted to just talk.

She must have looked confused, because he said, “I mean, I don’t get a lot of people to just talk to, and ever since the other day, I thought you’d be a nice person to… talk to. If we ever saw each other again, I mean.”

Kallian should have told him it was a bad idea. She should have taken her basket and went home and continued her attempts to forget about Al. Instead, she turned to find a log to sit on and looked at him. “What do you want to talk about? I have time before I’m expected home.”

Al smiled and sat next to her. “Well, I want to know more about you,” he said. “I mean, the way you act, I’ve never seen anyone like you. A woman who fights back and apparently picks medicinal herbs with a short sword on her belt.”

She looked down, having nearly forgotten about her weapon, thankful that it didn’t skewer her when she tripped. “It’s for defense,” she explained. “Just in case, you know. There are animals and things out here.”

“Most people are afraid of an Elf carrying a blade, you know,” Al pointed out.

“Elves are afraid Shems – humans, I mean – no matter whether or not they’re armed,” she said.

“What is that word you’ve been calling humans?” he asked.

“Shem? It’s, uh, it’s and Elven word for human. I mean, it comes from ‘shemlen,’ which is the actual word the Dalish use. Our elder, Valendrian, is a friend of my family. He taught me a few words. But we pretty much all use that word for humans.”

“It doesn’t seem to be a very nice word,” he observed.

“Most of us don’t have very nice feelings toward humans,” Kallian pointed out.

There was a pause before he said, “Most? I’m guessing that’s excluding you. I mean, you’re talking to me right now.”

“My cousin thinks that my tendency to befriend humans is a negative trait.” That was putting it gently, but she wasn’t going to tell him the whole story.

“Why is that a bad thing?”

She gave a wry laugh. “It’s mostly about trust. A lot of humans think that they can do what they want with us. No one cares about a random Elf going missing or getting roughed up.” Al’s face seemed to fall a bit. “What, don’t tell me you didn’t know about all that. What you stopped in the street the other day happens all the time. Nice people don’t normally materialize out of the air like you did.” She stood and began to leave, suddenly angry. Of course he didn’t understand. She didn’t know why she thought he might.

“You’re angry,” he stated as it sounded like he was following her. “I’ve said something that upset you.”

“I don’t know why I thought you’d know what I meant,” she said, continuing to walk. “We met once by chance and you were a great help. We met today, again, and I’m glad you don’t want anything from this, but you’re a human and I’m an Elf. You might want someone to talk to, but you and I are not going to be friends.”

With that, she walked off, leaving him behind. She slightly expected him to follow her either on foot or horseback. Neither happened.


	4. A Spark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who remembers when I said I was going to update regularly?

Kallian walked back to the alienage, all the while trying to go over in her head what just happened. Undoubtedly, Al thought less of her now. She'd gotten angry at him for seemingly no reason and left him sitting on a log in the middle of the forest. If he was anything like she thought, he certainly no longer had any sort of fond feelings toward her. That was a good thing, right? He no longer had fond feelings toward her, which meant she could focus on that and get him out of her mind. After all, the boys who hurt her before did so long after she was far too invested in them. Putting him off early was a good thing. That was what she had to keep telling herself.

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that it she didn't even realize she was back home until she saw the vhenadal looming overhead. Strangely, things were rather quiet. Looking around, it seemed that the only people outside were the beggars who hung out around the central square and slept under the tree. The sky was not threatening rain, so there must have been another reason that no one was outside. After a few moments of searching, the only thing that even gave her a clue was a hoof print in the mud. It was definitely a horse, and one with shoes, at that. There'd been at least one noble through the alienage recently. It might have been not five minutes before she arrived.

Strange. Nobles often avoided going through the alienage if they could, even if it meant taking the long way around. Generally, a noble in their part of town meant trouble, but she could see no sign of a fight. Perhaps whoever it was simply got lost, so there was no harm done, except for a few shaken beggars.

The thought of who could have come through all but slipped from her mind as she opened the door to her home and heard a loud squeal.

“Andraste’s silken knickers, Kal! Where have you been?” Shianni nearly screamed as she rushed to greet her, throwing her arms around her body.

“I was in the forest,” she answered, puzzled at the question. “I was getting herbs. You knew this. I asked you if you wanted to come along this morning and you told me that was the worst way to spend a day you’ve ever heard.”

Shianni pulled away and rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean literally,” she replied. “Besides, this time, I was right. You will never guess who came through town!”

“Do you actually want me to guess, or…?” Kallian trailed off as she saw her cousin’s slightly exasperated look at the question. “Fine. Who came through town?”

“The Prince!” This time, Shianni yelled so loud that she actually winced. “Crown Prince Cailan rode through the Alienage with his guards. Not sure what he was doing here, but he was being completely civil. Valendrian even spoke to him for a few minutes, but he won’t tell us what he said. He looked a bit happy, though, so it can’t be bad, right?”

“That, or Valendrian is as sick of this place as we all are and is getting some weird joy out of the idea that he’s going to demolish all of our homes,” Kallian joked. This time, she earned a glare from her cousin. “Wow, you’re serious today,” she remarked. “You’re right, it’s probably a good thing. I mean, it has to be, right? When was the last time anyone in the royal family even acted like they gave a damn about us?”

“It’s true,” her father interjected from the table at which he was sitting. “Even if he doesn’t do anything for quite some time, walking through this part of town gives a powerful statement. The people below him are bound to copy him. Who knows? Maybe the people of Denerim will decide to help us out.”

With that, Shianni’s face betrayed a bit of disgust. “That just means an influx of Shems, doesn’t it?”

“If someone wants to come by and help patch the roof so it doesn’t leak in the winter and spring, I wouldn’t turn them away if they were human,” he pointed out. “Even if they don’t like us and we don’t like them, help is help.”

As always, her father always made the most sense when talking about something like this. She admired his ability to diffuse any tension in the house as the three of them ate dinner in silence. The topic didn’t come up again until the two of them went to their shared room to get ready for bed.

“You know, just because they’re freely offering help doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it!” her cousin began when the two of them were finally alone. She stood there with her arms crossed as if that was the end of the argument and she would hear no more.

“Weren’t you the one who was just jumping up and down excitedly telling me about the fact that a human prince rode through our part of town today? Doesn’t he count as one of those Shems?” She prodded Shianni with her forefinger which she swatted away.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “Look I don’t care about what they do so long as they don’t bother me. I have no patience for the things they think they can get away with just because the city guard doesn’t care to check up on what happens in our part of the city.”

“With how much you seem to care about what’s going on, maybe you could get a group of people and train them to be our personal alienage guard!” Kallian laughed. “Oh, Hahren Shianni! The Shems are being mean to me again! Please, send someone to try to beat them up but ultimately get themselves thrown in jail!”

“Laugh all you want, but someone needs to do something.”

“You’re being strangely serious about all of this,” Kallian pointed out. “Did so much change while I was out getting herbs?”

Shianni let out a sigh and slumped into a chair. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’m tired of being treated like we’re nothing, and we can’t do anything about it. The Dalish don’t take that sort of treatment. They fight back.”

“The Dalish live in the woods and care as much about us as the humans do,” Kallian responded before she could stop herself. She knew how her cousin felt about the Dalish, but neither of them would ever meet them, so what was the point. “I agree with my father at any rate. Help is help, no matter where it comes from, so long as it’s volunteered. It’s not as if I would work with a human if they asked something in return when I could pay one of our own to repair a hole in the roof.”

Though Al could probably do that well, a thought floated through her mind. He was strong, wasn’t he? His arms certainly said that about him. She knew why she couldn’t get him out of her head, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. In all honesty, she agreed with her cousin, mostly. She had the same experience with humans that told her most of them wanted something for the “kindness” they offered, but for some reason, she was being more optimistic since she saw Al the second time. She might have stormed away from him, but he certainly didn’t seem to want anything in return for his help that day in the market.

Shianni’s face was as serious as it had been during this entire encounter. “Still,” she said, “I know that you have more of a tendency to gravitate toward them than others.”

Kallian rolled her eyes. “Will you let that go? I haven’t seen hide or hair of him since that day, which means he obviously hasn’t come looking for payment. And I’m not the only one who has had dalliances with humans.” She didn’t care that she lied about seeing Al. It’s not like her cousin would believe her if she said that they met up again and he’d been the perfect gentleman. It still didn’t make sense to her, but it didn’t matter at the moment.

“I had mine when we were younger and didn’t know better,” he cousin pointed out. “The novelty’s worn off on me. You, however, can’t seem to stay away from them, even when you know better. I just want to protect you. I just want us all to be safe.”

The two of them were close enough in age that Kallian didn’t need to hear her cousin try to play older sibling, especially when Shianni was usually the more reckless one. These ideas must have been brewing in her head for a long time for them to come out all of the sudden like this.

“This isn’t just about Prince Cailan riding through the alienage today, is it?” she guessed.

“Valendrian didn’t mind him, and I didn’t either, honesty,” Shianni admitted. “I mean, it’s true what they say. He’s a very handsome man. It’s just that hearing you talk about your savior that day and the idea that we have to rely on them to get any sort of decent treatment around here… It’s wrong, Kal. It’s always been wrong. There has been news coming out of cities all over Thedas of alienages purged. Every couple years, it seems like we hear about bandits walking into cities and kidnapping elves to sell in Tevinter because they know we won’t be missed. What kind of life are we living where they just seem to not care about us?” She stood up from the chair in which she sat and went over to lie on her bed facing the wall. “I’m just… I’m just tired, Kal.”

Even though Shianni couldn’t see it, Kallian nodded. Her family, like the rest of the alienage, was barely staying afloat and living off charity from the Chantry most days. It’s not as if the people of Denerim would miss the dirty elf who sat in the market every few days to sell wilted flowers, and she could see that the thought was really getting to her family.

In a twist of events, it was Kallian’s turn to comfort her cousin by sitting on the edge of her bed and placing a hand on her shoulder. She could tell by the way she was breathing that Shianni was crying silently, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it. Her cousin often hid the way she truly felt with humor and alcohol. It wasn’t healthy, but it worked most of the time, it seemed. She never got to the bottom of why the woman she considered a sister never felt like she could actually express her feelings, but at the very least, she could give her a physical reminder that she would be there for her.

“It won’t be like this forever,” Kallian said. “You’re not the only one who feels this way or this strongly. More and more people are agreeing with you. Some of them are even poor humans who are treated no better than us. Maybe there will be actual change around here, and you’ll help bring it about.” She paused, thinking about the idea of her cousin in a leadership position, but all of a sudden, it wasn’t such a strange thing to consider. "You’re right. Of course you’re right. And you’re going to do great things because you want to act the moment you see injustice. I’m sure that one day, people will talk about the great deeds of Hahren Shianni and how she helped all of us.”

With that, Kallian stood and went to her own bed. She didn’t realize just how truly tired she was until that moment. As her eyes closed and she began to drift off to sleep, however, she could have sworn she heard, “Thanks, Kal.”


	5. Dealings in Denerim

The next morning, Kallian left her house earlier in the morning than normal, while her cousin and father were still sleeping. The sun was barely up, and it seemed that the city was abandoned. Being out early in the morning, even in a city like Denerim, could give someone the odd feeling of being the only person in the world. It felt so calm, she could almost tell herself that it wasn’t going to be ruined by the din of shopkeepers hawking their wares while people and animals mill about the square in just a few hours. Almost.

Every now and then, she left home this early to just enjoy the town. A lone elf wandering around Denerim was no reason to raise suspicion, but when there was nobody around, it meant that she didn’t have to be as careful. It was a rare occasion that she actually liked the city she called home her entire life. Val Royeaux and Antiva City, she read, were shining, beautiful capitals of culture, but as far as she was concerned, they were words on a page, and while she dreamed every now and then of actually being able to get out and explore the world, to her, those places might as well not exist. Denerim was dirty and the markets smelled terrible on a good day, but it was still home, and she’d be damned if there weren’t mornings like this that made her love the place.

In the early mornings, there were guards out on patrol in pairs, but they were few and far between. She past a few people passed out in alleyways or stumbling home from a late night at the local taverns or the Pearl. It was all to be expected. No one cared to look twice at each other as long as no one was making any real trouble. It was too early for any of that.

Kallian walked closer to the gates of the castle than she had in a while. She didn’t get close enough to arouse any suspicion, choosing instead to walk toward the fortified walls where she knew no guard would be watching her. It wasn’t exactly easy for anyone, let alone a single elf, to scale the wall, so watching the gate was the priority.

In the early morning sunlight, the castle seemed to be from another world entirely. The beams of sun hit the stone and made them look as if the walls were full of glittering gold. Of course, they were, but only on the inside.

As the sun moved in the sky toward noon, Kallian found herself having to move out of the way of carriages coming into the city and heading toward the castle. After a while, she noticed that more nobles than usual seemed to be heading toward the castle. She only saw this many nobles in Denerim during the annual Satinalia celebration, but this was the middle of Bloomingtide. If this heralded the beginning of a Landsmeet, surely, she figured, she would have known about it.

Kallian rushed home in order to get out of the way of the growing crowds. While she tried to keep abreast of local news, if anyone knew what was truly going on, it would be Shianni.

At the gates of the alienage, she saw two more guards than were normally posted. That certainly was a clue to what this might be. Security was always tightened during festivals. The official story was that drunk humans looking for fights liked to wander over and assault random passers-by, but the unofficial reason was that the nobles didn’t come from all over Ferelden to see the dirty, poor elves in their slum.

Strangely, there seemed to be a bit of a crowd in the alienage just as there was in the market square, but the energy felt different. Stranger still, the crowd seemed to converge upon her own house. A few older people passed her and smiled, but it wasn’t happiness in their expressions. She wasn’t sure what it was.

Pushing through the thickest part of the crowd with some effort, she finally reached her front door and found it open, with people filtering in and out. Once inside, she saw the reason why. People were crammed around their small kitchen table, and the people shuffling in and out were the same ones every time, listening in and relaying what was being said to the people outside, and to make it even weirder, the person everyone was listening to was Shianni.

“ – and we’ll need some people standing outside to distract the guards,” she finished before it seemed that she finally noticed her cousin leaning on the door. Pushing herself away from the table, she said, “Give me a minute. My cousin is giving me the ‘we need to talk now’ look.” With that, she began to walk toward their shared room as Kallian followed.

“So where did you disappear off to this morning?” her cousin asked, sitting on the sole chair in the room. “You’ve been doing that a lot recently, you know.”

“I wanted to take an early walk in the market,” Kallian answered, before shaking her head. “But let’s talk about the people you’re having distract guards.”

“Just the ones that can be chased for a while and hide,” Shianni defended. “It only matters that we have as few guards near the party as possible.”

“Party?”

The other woman looked confused. “You were walking near the castle this morning,” she said. “You probably saw a bunch of noble carriages heading toward the gates? And the increased guard presence in front of our own? They’re here for the prince’s birthday.”

“Isn’t Crown Prince Cailan’s birthday in Wintermarch?” she asked. “It was just a few months back. Why would they be celebrating now?”

Shianni rolled her eyes. “The younger prince,” she explained. “Prince Alistair. The reclusive one. Apparently, King Maric is determined to make sure that his bastard son has at least one overly extravagant party in his life, if at least to prove to the rest of the nobility that he deserves to be royal. What better way than to waste our tax money on a birthday party?”

“And you want to draw guards away because …?”

“Because we need to get a small group inside,” Shianni continued. “With so many people around spending so much money on something like this, it will be so easy to present our case to the king.” Turning to look out the smudged glass of their one window, she said, “The other day, when we were talking about how none of them care about us? About how the show they did riding through town was just a show? It got me thinking. We can’t just wait around for the shems to suddenly care that we exist. We have to do something about it. We need to let them know that we won’t take this anymore.”

Kallian paused, trying to take it all in. “You’re going to get them all killed,” she finally said, looking to the door.

“We’re not fighting – “

She cut her cousin off. “If everything goes to plan, maybe. If anyone – if any human gets hurt during this demonstration – they’ll purge the alienage!”

A heavy silence overtook the room, even though they could still hear the people outside. It was a moment before Kallian spoke again.

“But, and I hate saying this, you know that, you’re not entirely wrong,” she admitted. “They don’t care about us, and I don’t doubt that there are nobles looking for sneakier ways to kill us all, anyway. The way Valendrian talks, King Maric is a reasonable man. If we’re lucky, he might listen to every third word you say.”

Shianni snorted. “Well, stranger things have happened, I’m sure. Does that mean you’re coming?”

“Of course. I’m not going to let you go off and do something stupid. Not without my supervision, anyway,” she answered. The breath was nearly entirely knocked out of her as her cousin tackled her in a hug.

“I knew I could count on you!” she cheered. “Come on. We still need to plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it's been so long and it's only a short chapter, but I'm still alive, so there's that!
> 
> This one goes out to all the lovelies I met on the Dragon Age discord server. You guys are the best! Hope you enjoyed this "veggies" chapter.


	6. The Party

The planning went on most of the day, with people running in and out of her house to relay information to people who had to be elsewhere. They couldn’t meet to plan by the Vhenadahl, of course. It would be too obvious, so they had to settle on having a few people crammed into their tiny house at a time.

Throughout all the chaos, everyone was looking to Shianni. She didn’t seem to have the majority of the ideas, but she made all of the decisions for what was about to happen. It was strange, seeing her cousin in a position of authority. The sight was nothing she had ever imagined. She seemed to thrive when it came to people looking to her to lead. A few days ago, Kallian joked by calling her “Hahren,” but it was clear that the woman would do well in that position.

For her part, Kallian sat next to her cousin and mostly just listened to the planning. She only asked a question fairly soon after she and Shianni came back out after their short conversation in their shared room.

“So where do I fit in with all of this?” she asked as she watched her cousin divide people into different groups. There were people specifically to run around and confuse the guards, there were those who would be their own security, and there was the forward group with Shianni who would be there to back up the woman as she presented their case to the king and nobles present, provided they made it that far.

“You’re with me, of course,” Shianni answered, putting an arm around her shoulders and squeezing her closer. “I really don’t think I could do this if I didn’t have you next to me, Kal.” It was part heartfelt confession and part guilt trip. Perhaps if she had been human, her cousin would have made an amazing actress instead of a would-be rebellion leader. Still, Kallian had to admit that she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else when it came to breaking into a palace, crashing an important party, and trying to hold the attention of a room full of nobles and guards.

Wit the sun going down, the planning went into its last stages as they were losing time. The party was going to start soon, and while they were not going to crash the party at the beginning, they still couldn’t wait too long. Shianni’s plan was to make sure that the maximum amount of nobles were there to listen to them.

“We want to be treated fairly, so we need as many people there as possible,” Shianni explained. “We’ve complained before, and all we’ve gotten is snubbed by guards. The best we’ve had before was some charity from the Chantry sisters. The people of this city have never treated us like we were worth a damn. Prince Cailan may have ridden through our part of town the other day, but have we heard anything but some token words about helping us out? We have to face the reality of the fact that they don’t actually want to help us. They just want to look like they’re helping us. Tonight, we’re going to make a difference. They’re not going to be able to just sweep us aside with this many people to witness our demands. No matter what happens tonight, no one is going to be able to deny that we are here, and we’re unhappy.”

There were murmurs of assent around the room as everyone seemed to look to Shianni for guidance. As they prepared to move out, Kallian couldn’t tell if the feeling in her gut was nerves or excitement. It was likely that it was an even mix of both, honestly.

It was a while before she and the rest of the “forward team,” as Shianni called them, were set to leave for the party. The first people who needed to go were the runners who could distract the guards and clear a path so they’d encounter as few guards as possible. It was nearing midnight before the forward team was ready to move out.

There were only a few of them, so it was easier for them to stick to the shadows and the edges of town to get to the palace. While it was late at night, the marketplace was still as bustling as ever, though it had a significantly different feel to the atmosphere as everything was now lit by torchlight. It seemed that the local vendors were taking advantage of the amount of new people in town who were there to escort nobles but still were not high profile enough to be able to actually get into the palace. Kallian imagined that there were quite a few footmen and lady’s maids among the new clientele.

The large amount of people in the market this late at night was an unexpected boon when it came to getting closer to the open palace gates that were left ajar for the nobles who were late to arrive or early to leave.

Kallian felt her heart beating in her chest as the small group waited for the guards at the gate to be pulled away by a couple of runners. They only had a few moments to slip through and get to the entrance. The halls were mostly empty except for a few servants moving around, but that was where the group had an advantage. So many elves served in the palace that a few extra wouldn’t be noticed as long as they kept their heads down and didn’t talk to anyone before getting to the main hall.

As luck would have it, they were not far from the kitchens, and a quick run from one of the others in the group produced a few empty silver platters so it would look as if they were going into the hall to collect plates and silverware for washing. Shianni, however, looked like she had a very different plan altogether.

“Give me your platter when I say so,” she whispered to Kallian as they walked closer to the main hall.

They tried to blend in with pockets of servants through the halls who weren’t really paying attention to them. Every now and then, she heard a passing noble make a comment with the words “rabbit” or “knife-ear” and she had to remind herself that they had to keep low so she didn’t lash out against them and ruin the whole plan.

While they passed a few doors that could easily lead to the main hall, Shianni kept leading them farther down until they were almost at the kitchens. The servants were, thankfully, too busy to notice that a handful of elves walking toward the kitchens were not actually part of the staff, so they were able to pass by relatively easily.

The door that led from the kitchens was in the very back of the hall, so when they entered along with other, proper servants, Kallian could only see the backs of heads, but it wasn’t long until Shianni led the group into the center of the hall and in front of a dais that held the royal family where she lifted the pilfered tray above her head before throwing it to the floor. The loud clattering sound achieved what Kallian believed her cousin was aiming for, as the commotion in the room came to a complete stop, and suddenly all eyes were staring at their little group.

The few of them, however, were only focused on the dais which sat the King Maric, Crown Prince Cailan, and the prince for whom this party was thrown. When Kallain’s eyes fell on the last man, she felt as if all the air was sucked out of the room.

She thought the man she’d run into a few times, the funny, charming human, was a human named Al, but there he was, sitting next to his father, because he was Prince Alistair. She could have kicked herself for being so stupid! How did she not recognize who he was? Everything made so much more sense now. The first day they met, the guards in town _bowed_ to him. She thought he was just a high ranking noble, but _prince?_ It was more than she could fathom, and he was now staring right at her as well. It was all she could do to just attempt to listen to the speech her cousin was making.

“ – expect to be treated fairly, just like any other citizen of your kingdom!” Shianni seemed to finish saying. There were no minced words when it came to her cousin. “We are no longer going to sit by, pretending to be content with shows of good faith that are never acted upon. Denerim is our home, just as it is yours, and we will no longer tolerate being treated as outsiders who are merely allowed to live here!”

The murmuring in the crowd grew louder when, out of the corner of her eye, Kallian saw armored figures walking through, and there was the unmistakable sound of multiple swords being drawn. She tensed at the idea that it was going to come to a fight. It wasn’t ideal, but she had an inkling that it would happen. The worst part was that Al – no, Alistair – was going to watch it happen.

She wasn’t nimble enough to dodge attacks coming from all sides. There were more than enough guards in the hall to take their small group, and she cursed the fact that the need for stealth on their mission meant she left her sword at home. Taking a deep breath, she was about to dropped into a fighting stance when the nearly impossible happened.

“Stand down!” boomed a voice from the dais. King Maric stood with his arms crossed, staring down the captain of the guard who was quickly approaching thee group. “I will not have blood spilled in my hall, and not on this night.” His expression seemed to shift into some sort of wry smile, but it could have just been her imagination. “This young woman and her friends were brave enough to find their way in and air their grievances in public. I will listen to what they have to say. Captain, please escort this group to the library. I will meet them there, soon.”

Kallian let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding before she began following an irate looking guard. It was more than she could have hoped for, and Shianni looked as if she was trying to hold in an overjoyed yell in order to keep her serious look. As they exited the room, her gaze turned one last time toward Alistair. His stunned expression mirrored her own internal turmoil, so she took some solace in that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to come out forever ago. That's what happens during finals.


	7. The Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer chapter since I couldn't find a good place to split it into two, but you darling readers deserve it for being so patient. I love the comments I've been getting. It reminds me why I like to write in the first place.

The silence in the library was deafening. They all stood with in the middle of the room with a pair of guards watching the door, though whether they were there to protect them or keep anyone from fleeing was anybody’s guess.

While Kallian was sure that her cousin’s head was filled with carefully planned speeches and everything she would say to King Maric. She, on the other hand, was completely distracted with the fact that Al was Prince Alistair. She kept going over the two meetings they had in her head, trying to figure out the hints that she missed.

The guards in the market kneeled in front of him! She thought it was just because he was a noble, but they kneeled because he was _royalty!_ How could she have missed that? It was just another case of Shianni being right. She was always too distracted when someone showed the slightest bit of interest in her, and Alistair did all the right things to make her swoon and dream about him. He might not have betrayed her trust in the ways the others did in the past, but now she felt like a naïve little girl, pining after a prince. If someone else was in her position, she would have pitied them. Thankfully, her stressed expression was not out of place in the room as even the guards looked nervous.

Kallian couldn’t say how long they were in the room before the door opened again. To her surprised, the first person to walk in the room was King Maric, followed by Crown Prince Cailan, and then Alistair. She tried her best not to look at him, but every time her eyes slid over to him, he was looking at her, as well.

There was one more person who came in with them. A tall man with long, black hair, dark skin, and the general air of someone who had more than enough experience with getting out of tough scrapes and not caring how badly he got hurt as long as he got out alive.

“My good friend, Warden Duncan,” Maric introduced the man before anyone asked, but that did nothing to calm the people in the room. If anything, Shianni seemed more on edge.

“Is there a reason a Grey Warden is here?” she asked, certainly looking like she didn’t trust the man in the slightest.

“He asked to be here,” the king answered, not seeming to care that Shianni was not addressing anyone formally. “You don’t need to worry about him. He’s a trusted friend and one of the first wardens to be based in Ferelden after their exile.”

“I also have to admit that I am interested in what is going to be said after that display in the main hall,” the other man admitted, sounding rather bemused. “That was certainly braver than anything I’ve ever seen in quite a while.”

The group was invited to sit around the large table in the library, but everyone waited for King Maric and the princes sat down. On their side, Shianni sat directly in the middle so she was looking straight at the king. If there was anyone else in the room, perhaps they would have called it some sort of power play.

While Kallian would have loved to be in any other room than this, but she promised to be at her cousin’s side, and that, unfortunately, put her right across from Alistair. While she would have loved to listen to these negotiations, she could only hear the sound of her own heart beating loud in her hears as she looked down at the table.

It felt as if the meeting was taking forever, and she could only catch snippets of what was being said, distracted as she was. It felt like an eternity before she heard her cousin discuss the terms of the next meeting.

“I do agree that we need to speak more on this,” she said. “And next time, I will bring Hahren Valendrian. I’m sure that he would like to have a say in the negotiations going on.”

“I’m sorry,” a quick burst of laughter came from the crown prince. “But are you saying that you planned all of this without the knowledge of your elder?”

“That is true,” Shianni answered, steel in her voice. She certainly was not backing down from the man who didn’t seem to take her quite as seriously. “I’m sure he would agree with the fact that we need change in the Alienage, but he had no knowledge of the plan tonight. He wouldn’t have approved.”

Kallian had to agree with her. She doubted that Valendrian would have agreed to even hear about the plan, let alone take part.

Despite his son’s words, King Maric did not seem to mind the fact that it turned out a bunch of upstart elves were able to break into his palace without even the support of their elder.

“Well, when we have our next meeting, I suppose we should have a more formal setting and time frame,” he said, good-naturedly. “I certainly have a few more advisors who would like to know more about the situation so we can figure out the best way to go about tackling the problem head on.”

“I’m certain Teryn Loghain would like to be there,” Duncan said in agreement.

“He didn’t even want me to take this meeting tonight!” King Maric scoffed. “But I’ll never hear the end of it if the meeting is held before he goes back to Gwaren. Otherwise, Anora will take his place.”

“We can be certain that he’ll know about the contents of the meetings either way, then,” Prince Cailan said with a large smile on his face.

“Indeed,” the king agreed, smiling and chuckling along. It was strange to Kallian to see them acting as if this was a normal happenstance. It was certainly not a sight that she every would have seen otherwise, and if she was told that the King acted like this in private, she doubted that she would ever believe it.

“Well,” King Maric continued, standing up out of his seat, “if that is all we need, I would say that the meeting is adjourned as it is rather late.”

“Thank you very much for meeting with us, your majesty,” Shianni said, rising after the king did and bowing at the waist in an act of deference Kallian rarely saw in her cousin. “Our people will appreciate the simple fact that you agreed to meet.”

The rest of their group rose to leave the room after the royals did, and a few were already whispering what this might mean for them. It was hope that she’d never hoped to hear from her people. It almost distracted her for a moment before she exited the room.

“Excuse me, miss,” came a voice beside her she knew all too well by now. “Do you mind if I speak with you? It seemed like you had something to say in there, and I’d like to hear your opinions.”

Kallian took a deep breath and turned to her cousin. “I’ll see you at home,” she promised, receiving a look that told her that she had better explain everything when she did.  Neither conversation was one she looked forward to. She turned back to see that Alistair was motioning for her to go back into the library.

“Wow,” he said once they were alone. “Just… wow. I knew that there were problems, but I didn’t expect it to come to a head like this. And then to see you! Honestly, this is amazing.” He looked at her with an excited expression and obviously seemed to expect her to say something, but she stayed silent. “Is something wrong, Kallian?” he asked.

“Everything is fine, Prince Alistair,” she replied, emphasizing the word “Prince” more than she needed to.

“Ah,” he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck and looking to the side. “Well, I mean, it wasn’t completely a lie.”

“But it wasn’t the truth, either,” Kallian retorted.

“Well, no,” he seemed to agree. “That day in the market I just saw someone who was taking advantage of the fact that most people will simply believe the word of any human over an elf, and that wasn’t right. I know now that I was barely doing anything to really help the problem, but it meant I met you.”

“And you said your name was ‘Al,’” she added.

“It is!” He sputtered. “I mean, people call me Al. Not a lot of people, but some do. And when you didn’t know who I was I just got sort of, I don’t know, excited, I guess. I’m so used to people knowing who I am immediately that I jumped at the chance to talk to someone who didn’t. It just so happened that the person was you, and I found you brilliant. After tonight, I’m sure I’m right.”

“You barely even know me,” she countered.

“But I want to,” he replied instantly. “It felt like a miracle that I ran into you in the forest. The fact that you came here, even without knowing who I am, feels more like fate. Like something might be pulling us together.”

“Stop. Please.” Kallian held a hand out in front of her. “I’m not going to do this. I can’t.”

“Why not?” Alistair asked. His face showed a genuine look of confusion and hurt.

“Because you’re a sh-“ She stopped herself. “I mean, you’re a human. And you’re a prince. Whatever you might think, nothing could really happen between us.”

“I disagree,” he said obstinately. “Kallian, I’ve never met anyone like you before. And from what I saw just moments before, we’ll be seeing more of each other no matter what.”

She wanted to deny it, but the truth was that she would never let Shianni go to one of these meetings in the future without her.

“All I’m asking is a chance,” he continued. “One chance to see if there might be something here.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked. “I’m an elf. I’m sure there are many nobles you could talk to in just the same way, and no one would look at you in any strange way if you showed interest in them.”

“But I’m not interested in them. None of them…” He trailed off, looking for the word he needed. “None of them struck me the way you did. If you don’t feel the way I do, that’s fine, but I feel like you do. Am I wrong?”

Kallian paused and looked at the ground. “It won’t work out the way you think.” Looking back up at him, the smile told her that he only cared about the fact that she didn’t say no. “Just think about it for a moment. If we were ever seen together, rumors would spread. They wouldn’t say kind things about either of us.”

“I don’t care,” he insisted.

“You will,” she replied. “Eventually, you will start to care about what people say. You’ll get tired of it. That is what happens.”

“You say that like you know me so well.”

“I know your type,” she said, perhaps a bit too quickly. “I mean, I’ve been with human boys before. They all start out so nice like you, but they never stay that way. I’d rather not go through that again.”

It was Alistair’s turn to be speechless. For a moment, it felt as if there was nothing moving between them.

“Fine,” he eventually said. “In two days, meet me in the alley next to the Chantry. I have a red cape, so you’ll know it’s me. If you come, we can talk more about this. If you don’t, then I will understand.”

“Are you always this stubborn?” she asked with a wry laugh.

“I’m told I get it from my mother,” he conceded, giving a laugh as well. “No matter what, though. It was nice seeing you tonight.” He took her arm and led her to the room. “Have a good night, my lady.”

“Good night, Prince Alistair,” she said, leaving the room. On her walk home, in spite of herself, she found herself smiling, even though she knew she was going to have to explain everything to Shianni.


	8. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm not dead. Here's a short-ish chapter to prove it.

Walking home, Kallian was constantly looking over her shoulder, afraid that someone was following her home from the castle. Her pace was quick, and her heart rate didn’t stabilize until she finally saw the gates to the alienage. One thing she didn’t expect was that Shianni was waiting for her, leaning against the gate with her arms crossed.

“Took you long enough,” her cousin quipped, her tone a mix of teasing and suspicion. “I was beginning to think that they decided they were going to imprison one of us after all. What did the prince have to say to you?”

She paused before replying. “He just… he wanted to get my opinion on what was going on, since I didn’t really say much with everything there.” She hoped the lie would be convincing enough, even if she was just parroting Alistair’s reason.

“Interesting,” Shianni replied with a slightly knowing smile. “There were a couple people in that room who didn’t talk much. Why did he ask you?”

“Well, the others were just there to get us into the castle, right? I guess he figured that I was your right hand in all of this. Which I am, by the way.”

“Stop acting like there isn’t something you’re keeping from me, Kal.” She walked forward just a bit so Kallian could easily see the accusing glance of her cousin. “Something happened in that room between you two that wasn’t a civil conversation about the plight of the alienage. What happened? If he hurt you, I swear I’ll –”

“It’s nothing like that!” Kallian explained, quickly cutting her off. She really didn’t want to hear whatever sort of revenge plan her cousin would cook up. “It’s really nothing. It’s just that I sort of met him before.”

There was a brief pause before Shianni’s eyes grew wide in surprise and understanding. “That human noble who helped you in the market?” It was a rhetorical question. She didn’t even wait for Kallian’s confirmation.

“Andraste’s frilly, flaming underthings, Kal! How is it possible that you happened to catch the eye of not _just_ another shem but the bloody prince of shems!”

“He didn’t tell me he was a prince when we first met!” Kallian defended.

“’First’ met?” Shianni repeated. “You make it sound like you saw him between that day and tonight.” The lack of a response was all she needed for her answer. “I told you that your hopeless romantic heart was going to land you in trouble one day.”

“Look, I only met him twice before I found out who he really was,” she finally replies. “Which was tonight, by the way. He told me his name was Al, which was only half true, and he just let me assume that he was some sort of noble instead of telling me he was royalty!” She didn’t care that her voice was getting more and more frantic. “After that first day in the market, I told myself I was never going to meet him again. The second time, in the forest, I thought it was just the coincidence. Now, I break into his birthday celebration to help you make a scene, and he’s telling me that it feels like fate!”

Shianni’s face turned from accusatory to astonished. “Fate?”

“That’s what he said,” she shrugged. “But he didn’t push the issue. He wasn’t exactly thrilled when I didn’t immediately say that I felt the same way, though.”

“What did he do?” Shianni asked, eyes wide.

“He didn’t _do_ anything,” Kallian answered. “He didn’t even really touch me, so you don’t have to worry about having to barge into the castle to take whatever sort of revenge you might think is appropriate.” She paused for a moment, looking down at her well-worn shoes. “He told me that if I actually wanted to give him a chance that I would meet him by the chantry in two days.”

Shianni, for the first time in a long time, looked speechless. A long moment passed between the two of the before she even asked, “Are you going to go?”

It was Kallian’s turn to look surprised. “What do you mean, am I going to go? I thought you were going to be yelling up and down that this was a terrible idea and that he’s probably a horrible person. You’re the one who told me to stay away from shem boys in the first place.”

“Yeah, but he’s not just any shem, is he?”

“Just because he’s a prince?”

“No,” Shianni corrected. “Think about it. I doubt that there are many princes who would take kindly to what we did tonight, no matter how pretty he thought someone in the group was. From what you said, it sounds like he wouldn’t try to force himself on you, and he gave you a choice.”

“So what are you saying?” Kallian inquired.

“Just that he’s probably the nicest shem in the city, if not in the whole of Ferelden.”

“I don’t get you,” she said, shaking her head. “First you hate shems, and now you think that I’m supposed to meet him.”

“I know, I’m an enigma,” her cousin teased. “Look, you’ve got two days to think about it, and who knows? Maybe he’ll change his mind and you’ll never see him again.”

“Not never,” Kallian corrected. “I’m your right hand in these meetings you’re going to do, right? That means at least one more trip to the castle before Valendrian decides that having you go along is more trouble than it’s actually worth.”

“Shut up,” Shianni laughed, playfully hitting the other on the arm before taking her by the hand. “Come on. Your father is probably wondering where we are, since everyone else is back already.”


	9. Questions and Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is Alistair's POV! Enjoy!

Alistair tossed and turned in bed, unable to actually fall asleep for a significant period of time.  The events of the night kept running through his head. No doubt he could have handled that situation better if he had any sort of preparation. That’s what he told himself the last time they met, and she ended up running from him.

Perhaps he was just no good at talking to people.

Kallian seemed particularly upset at him when they were alone together. She barely even looked at him. Weren’t women supposed to be overjoyed when they found out a prince was interested in them? That’s what Cailan always told him, anyway.

She wasn’t thrilled to find out who he was. She even seemed angry. _Technically_ , he never lied to her about who he was, but he also never told her outright. She had a right to be upset with him.

Alistair flipped onto his other side and sighed, accepting the fact that he likely wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight.

At least he had two days to figure out what he was going to say to her, he reasoned. This was the first time that he actually knew a time when he could see her next.

 _If she even decides to show up,_ reminded a sharp voice in his head. There was always that possibility. For all he said about how it was fate that they kept running into each other, she might not even agree to meet him. The thought sent a sharp pang through his chest.

Perhaps he was being silly. He barely knew this girl, after all. What made him think that she even wanted to see him again? There was no reason for him to believe that she was single. She could have someone back at home for all he knew, and that would just make him the annoying man who was trying to break up a happy relationship for selfish reasons. And now that she knew he was a prince, he probably looked even worse, as if he thought he could get any woman he wanted, single or taken, just because of his status. The thought disgusted him.

Eventually, he fell into a fitful sleep filled with dreams that hardly made any sense. By the time dawn broke, he was awake and felt even worse than before. He considered simply feigning sickness and spending the rest of the day in his room planning what he would say to Kallian when he saw her next, but he doubted staying in one place would truly help him figure anything out. At the very least, he was reassured in the fact that after the meeting last night, Cailan went back into the hall and got himself extremely drunk, so he would be in no shape to spar today.

He was keen to stay in bed longer before he heard his bedroom door open as a servant named Liara brought in his breakfast.

“Oh, Prince Alistair, I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said apologetically as he sat up in bed.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her groggily. “I was already awake.” He doubted that his state could truly be called conscious, though. As the elven woman set his breakfast and tea at the small table in his room, a thought struck him. “Liara, I was curious about something. Have you heard of elves and humans… being together? Like romantically.”

There was a short silence before the woman cleared her throat. “Your Highness, I assure you that I am flattered, but I am married with children.”

Alistair felt his ears grow hot as she understood what she thought he meant. “Oh no!” he responded quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that! Not that you’re not a lovely woman, or anything. It’s just that I didn’t…”

His apology was cut off by the woman now giving a good-natured chuckled. “Well, if you’re just curious, then.” She appeared to think for a moment before answering his question. “It has been known to happen, every now and then but it isn’t common for many reasons. Class is generally the biggest reason. Human peasants are still seen to be above us in society. And when it does happen, there is fear that if the two ever fall out, the human will take any children that came out of the relationship.”

“Why is that the assumption?” he asked, feeling more clueless than before.

“Half-elven children have very few physical elven traits. Nearly all of them pass for humans. There have been too many stories of humans becoming ashamed of their spouses, and when they leave, they take the children and then lie about their true parentage.”

That response left Alistair floored. “I never knew that,” he admitted. To be fair, he didn’t know if he ever met any half-elven people before. According to Liara, though, there was a reason for that. 

“No, I don’t suspect you would have learned that anywhere,” she answered. “If that will be all, Your Highness, I’ll take my leave.”

“Right, of course,” he answered, nodding. He half expected her to ask him why he was so interested in the subject, but the question, thankfully, never came.

After taking time to eat his breakfast and get dressed, Alistair left his room to greet the morning. Or the mid-morning, at least.

The castle was still full of visiting nobles who wanted to wish him a happy birthday, and there was nothing he wanted less right now than having to talk to Lady So-and-So from North Wherever. This was especially compounded by the fact that everyone wanted to talk about what happened. Everyone seemed to have their own version of events and wanted to know exactly what happened in the meeting.

Alistair needed to find a quiet place to be where no one would bother him, and the library was the best place.

It was strange, he thought as he entered the room, that no one was in there Besides the fact that the castle had one of the most impressive collections of books in the country, he felt like there should have been a few people poking around, trying to look for hints about what happened the night before, as if the words exchanged left physical marks. Thankfully, that was impossible, or Alistair would have to endure a lot more questions.

In the quiet of the library, he felt like he could breathe for the first time since he left his room, and he soon began scanning the rows of books for something to read while he hid away from the masses in the halls.

“Looking for something particular, my boy?” came an all too familiar voice from behind. Alistair turned to see his father wearing a wry smile. “Or are you simply trying to fill some time so you don’t have to face all of our visitors?”

“Forgive me, Father,” Alistair apologized. “I know I’m supposed to be grateful that all of these people came from far away to celebrate my birthday, but they’re just…”

“Loud?” Maric supplied. “Obnoxious? A horde of babbling animals that threaten to trample you at any moment?” He gave a slight chuckle. “Don’t worry, Alistair. I understand. Just be happy that you won’t have to face them as much as your brother will.”

“You became the king so young,” he said. “How has it not driven you mad by now?”

This time, his father let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, some would love to say it has. Loghain, for example, came just short of threatening me when I proposed a treaty with Orlais, but I got him to see sense eventually.”

Alistair nodded. He remembered hearing raised voices through the doors of the meeting room. He knew his father and Teryn Loghain were close friends, but the latter always seemed to leave the meetings with a scowl.

“Did I ever tell you about the time we were stuck in the Deep Roads, during the war?” Maric mused, seemingly out of nowhere.

Alistair rolled his eyes. He had heard stories of Maric the Savior more times than he could count. “You used them as an escape route while everyone above thought you were dead, and when you resurfaced, the people celebrated it as a miracle,” he recited in monotone.

“Well, that’s certainly part of it,” the king answered with another laugh. “Loghain, Queen Rowan, and I were trapped underground with giant spiders and darkspawn and all manner of disgusting things, but did you know about our fourth companion?”

That certainly piqued Alistair’s interest. “You’ve never mentioned anyone else,” he answered.

“No, I suppose I never did,” his father sighed. “Loghain must be the only other person alive who remembers her. She’s not mentioned in the official histories, but we would never have made it out alive if it wasn’t for a young elven woman named Katriel.”

If Alistair wasn’t paying full attention before, he certainly was now. There was a look on his father’s face he had never seen before. It looked like sadness mixed with something else. Fondness, perhaps? “Why have you never mentioned her before?” he asked.

“Here,” said Maric, leading his son to a pair of chairs so they could both sit. “This is going to be a bit of a long story, if you don’t mind the ramblings of an old man.”

“We can hardly call you ‘old,’ Father,” Alistair replied.

“I certainly feel old at times,” Maric said as he sat down. He seemed to think for a while before continuing. “Katriel joined our rebellion against Meghren seemingly out of nowhere, and she was… She was beautiful, to say the very least. I was instantly struck by her appearance, but I fell in love with her fiery wit.”

Alistair now understood the look his father had. He was remembering a lost love. He wondered if the Queen knew about this, when she was alive.

“She was the one who guided us through the Deep Roads. I’m certain that without her, we would have died in any number of gruesome ways. By the time we were back on the surface, I was determined to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“What about Queen Rowan?” Alistair asked, unable to keep his curiosity at bay.

“In all honesty, I’m rather certain she preferred Loghain,” he answered. “The two never said anything, but if we weren’t betrothed, and she was able to choose, it would have been him, with or without the land he acquired later. Not to say that she and I were not extremely fond of each other, we had Cailan, after all, and for a time after her death, I was inconsolable, but we were never madly in love.”

“But you still married her,” he pointed out. “What happened to Katriel, if you were so in love with her?”

“I killed her,” Maric answered flatly. “She was a spy sent by a noble loyal to Orlais. She was sent to observe our movements and lead us into a trap at West Hill, which she did.”

“So her feelings were false as well?” Alistair asked, mouth agape.

“No, it was all very real,” Maric said, shaking his head. “When I found out she was a traitor, I executed her on the spot. It was only after that when I heard that she had just cut her ties with Orlais because they planned to kill me instead of just capture me. I have no doubt she reciprocated my feelings.”

“Why…” Alistair paused, trying to figure out exactly what his father was trying to tell him. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“I suppose I thought it was a story you needed to hear,” he answered, a sly smile returning to his face. “You may not be destined for the throne, but you will face difficult roads ahead no matter what. Perhaps, when it comes to love, you shouldn’t let others tell you what is right and what is wrong.”

With that, his father stood up from his chair and left the library, leaving Alistair as puzzled as ever. There was no way he could have known about Kallian, was there? No, he shook his head. It was impossible. It was probably about all of the nobles asking him to marry their daughters last night. His father was simply telling him to follow his heart when it came to that. That was the only logical explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slipped in a very subtle reference to a conversation you can have in Inquisition. Maybe too subtle? The first person to find it gets a one-shot!


End file.
